Cloud of discontent hangs over Rehoboth meeting

Rehoboth Beach commissioners met March 20 for the first time since Commissioner Susan Stewart publicly questioned the appropriateness of emails sent by Commissioner Suzanne Goode to staff, and like a thick marine layer that won’t burn off in the sun, there was a feeling of discontent hanging over the four-hour-long meeting.

During a meeting March 9, Stewart accused Goode of engaging in a sustained pattern of abusive verbal conduct across her official communications and encouraged people to submit Freedom of Information Act requests to see the emails. The next day, city staff posted Stewart’s comments and her call to action on the city’s website. In response, Goode has denied any wrongdoing.

Mayor Stan Mills opened the meeting March 20 with a statement. It’s been a trying year and a half with some commissioners disparaging other commissioners and staff, he said.

“I’m not talking about just one commissioner,” said Mills. “We should all be above that, and this is a good time for a reset.

“During meetings of this governing body, it is essential that discussions remain accurate, respectful and focused on the business before us,” said Mills. Doing otherwise undermines the integrity of the city’s operations, he said.

Disagreements are expected, he said, but those disagreements can be handled without personal attacks.

“Our responsibility as commissioners is to conduct the city’s business with professionalism and integrity, and that standard will be enforced during our meetings,” said Mills.

Stewart and Goode waited until commissioner comments at the end of the meeting to address the fallout from the previous meeting. However, property owner Tom Gaynor, who is suing the city over the contract of City Manager Taylour Tedder, took the opportunity during the public comment portion of each agenda item to harshly criticize commissioners, but primarily Mills and Stewart.

For example, following a presentation on recommendations from a city committee related to bikes on streets and newsstands on sidewalks, Gaynor criticized Mills. He said the mayor inappropriately interrupted Goode after asking her a direct question and also took away some of the responsibilities of Commissioner Mark Saunders, who chairs the city committee, as it relates to continuing to work on the issues.

Gaynor said Mills should have started his opening comments by saying he was sorry for contributing to the atmosphere of viciousness and condescension. It’s the contribution of the head of this organization that’s created the problem, he said.

As the contentious meeting neared its end, the tension in the room was palpable in anticipation of what would be said during commissioner announcements.

Goode went first, describing the week since Stewart made her comments and then city staff published the comments on its website, as a nightmare.

“Commissioner Stewart chose to engage in extremely defamatory comments against me, all of which are untrue,” said Goode. “Then I had the city decide it was appropriate to publish verbatim this entire tirade on its official website, with no opportunity for me to defend myself.”

Goode said she hasn’t made a decision on how to handle the situation. The defamation and character assassination were at such an extreme level that she would be unemployable, she said. 

“In addition to the emotional distress, it’s done serious damage,” said Goode.

Following Goode’s statement, Stewart explained why she hasn’t talked to reporters since issuing her comments.

“I don’t want to editorialize about what’s in them. They’re awful. I felt like the staff needed someone to speak up for them,” said Stewart. “I’d be happy to talk to anyone after they’ve looked at the emails.”

After saying that, Stewart did shed some light on what’s happened since she issued her statements. She said she had been subpoenaed related to Gaynor’s ongoing lawsuit against the city for the hiring of Tedder, which, she added, has now cost the city at least $400,000 to defend since it was filed.

Very little of the questioning had anything to do with the lawsuit, said Stewart, who has accused Goode of wanting the city to lose the lawsuit. Instead, she said, they asked her questions about her comments about Goode. 

“Nothing speaks more to the intertwinement of you and your dear friends who filed the suit,” said Stewart. “Thank you.”

Goode attempted to respond, but Mills immediately adjourned the meeting.

In the moments following the meeting, while Mills was cleaning up his area of the dais, when asked if he took any responsibility for the turmoil that’s taken over city council for the past 18 months, Mills said, “Absolutely not.”

As of press deadline March 23, Stewart’s statement remains a part of the information wheel featured at the top of the city’s website. It’s one of 17 posts related to updates on city infrastructure projects, staff accomplishments, status of private development projects and important calendar information.

The city’s homepage wheel is cycling through the news, and things are kept up there when there’s still relevance to the topic, said Brooke Thaler, city communications director, in an email March 23. Stewart’s statement will come off the wheel once the FOIA requests have been fulfilled, which will be sometime this week, she said.

“We have received multiple FOIA requests, and due to the sheer volume of emails, combined with redacting privileged information, that’s been a priority of ours here,” said Thaler.